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Cold front is KILLING me. New Pepco bill is $769.:cryi ng: I've been in this home for over a year and have NEVER had a bill this high. Winter bill usually averages about $375-400.00. No abnormal heating usage, so I can only attribute this hike to the cold front that's been hanging around the Metro DC area. Although I HATE having to pay this, I REFUSE to freeze in my home (Well, I refuse to let my four children freeze...if it was just me, I'd put on a coat and say screw it). I keep the thermostat at 70. Perhaps, I should go down a bit, but even 65 is a bit chilly for me. Ugh, I think I"m going to give it a go, because this can't go on. Home is ALL electric.

Anyone else seen a dramatic increase in their electric bill from the recent cold front?

Cold front is KILLING me. New Pepco bill is $769.:cryi ng: I've been in this home for over a year and have NEVER had a bill this high. Winter bill usually averages about $375-400.00. No abnormal heating usage, so I can only attribute this hike to the cold front that's been hanging around the Metro DC area. Although I HATE having to pay this, I REFUSE to freeze in my home (Well, I refuse to let my four children freeze...if it was just me, I'd put on a coat and say screw it). I keep the thermostat at 70. Perhaps, I should go down a bit, but even 65 is a bit chilly for me. Ugh, I think I"m going to give it a go, because this can't go on. Home is ALL electric.

Anyone else seen a dramatic increase in their electric bill from the recent cold front?

Same here. I just installed a new high efficiency heat pump last year, and have been keeping my thermostat at 70 (which is chilly IMO). My electric bill for December is $465 for a 1200 square foot rowhouse. I checked last year's bill, and the highest winter heating bill was $350 (and last year I had the thermostat set higher).

dude, turn the temps down, put on a sweat shirt... i pay 500 for 4800 sp foot home, and you live in a townhouse... get some curtains to cut down on wind drafts through your window.. put energy bulbs in your lamps, change your filters... our home is 66 during the day and 64 at night.. it can be cold some days, but we suck it up... god made clothes... fleece sheets in the bed from costco are awesome... you can sleep in shorts and t-shirt... they rock... $30 bucks...

I guess it's a matter of priorities. I am not rolling in dough by any stretch of the imagination, but I agree with Choclot - I refuse to be uncomfortable in my own home. At 69 or 70 degrees, I am already in a sweatshirt all day, and I'm bundled up with flannel p.j.'s and quilts all night. I'm not going to turn it down any further.

And I don't like budget billing. I had that in the past and found that BGE charged me for substantially more electric than I used for 11 months out of the year. Even though it balanced out on the last bill for the year, I didn't like the fact that they had my money all that time. In effect, I was pre-paying for electric.

You are right, it is about priorities.. I'd rather not spend money in electric, I'd rather do other stuff, so we bundle up

But it's all what you are willing to do and pay... We aren't uncomfortable at 62 degrees really.. BUT we also live in backtoback/side to side townhomes so it's more insulated so we may not feel it as much

I guess it's a matter of priorities. I am not rolling in dough by any stretch of the imagination, but I agree with Choclot - I refuse to be uncomfortable in my own home. At 69 or 70 degrees, I am already in a sweatshirt all day, and I'm bundled up with flannel p.j.'s and quilts all night. I'm not going to turn it down any further.

And I don't like budget billing. I had that in the past and found that BGE charged me for substantially more electric than I used for 11 months out of the year. Even though it balanced out on the last bill for the year, I didn't like the fact that they had my money all that time. In effect, I was pre-paying for electric.

OMG, I feel your pain, and I have heard budget billing is a big rip-off. I'm sorry your bill is so high.

My primary house is way smaller and newer and the bill this month is in the 300's, and I keep the house between 75 and 80 when I'm home. The house has new windows, insulated outlets and heavy, flannel-lined rockin' curtains on most of the windows. I can go HAPPILY without AC(and furniture, come to think of it), but as long as I can afford it, I refuse to freeze.

Well, with such a HIGH bill, you probably don't have much leftover for insulation or curtains or anything this winter! If you haven't already, during the summer you can put curtains on all of your windows! I think that may help.
1. Insulated curtains are cheaper in the summer.
2. Buy your curtain rods from home depot. Get the plain white utility rods that curve back to meet your window.
3. You can get inexpensive insulated curtains at JCPenney online. The only shortcoming is that they're mostly synthetic materials with a synthetic foam backing. I'm not sure if you'd necessarily want to breathe that in a closed house all winter. They also have lined silk curtains that are a little more expensive. You can try those with "interlining" since a plain cotton lining is too thin to do much good IMO. Good luck and hang in there. Spring will be here soon!

How do people afford that? I remember struggling with heating oil bills when I lived in Maryland and DC but they never got even close to that.
Mine will be high because of this cold we've had -- 9 days below freezing -- but for me that will be $120 or so for the month and I keep the thermostat at 71 degrees. (1200 square foot condo with high efficiency heat pump). And TVA is saying electric costs will drop this year because they've got so much water in the dams and will be releasing the excess. We depend primarily on hydroelectric power.
Use every possible resource to get as energy efficient as you can. With those costs, I'd be thinking solar panels and wind turbines.

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